The Sims 4 Spellcasters guide on how to become a Spellcaster in the Realm of Magic expansion

Looking for wizards and witch shenanigans? The Sims 4 Spellcasters are one of the major new additions to Realm of Magic, the late 2019 game pack that brought magic into the mundane in The Sims 4.

Smaller than a full expansion but larger than a stuff pack, The Sims 4 game packs are new to this generation of the franchise, and each one introduces a single complete new mechanic to the game.

As you probably guessed, Realm of Magic introduces magic - a dark horse mechanic since the days of 2003's The Sims: Makin' Magic - to the fourth generation of Sims games.

It wouldn't be a supernatural Sims add-on without a new creature type, and Realm of Magic does not disappoint. If you want to practice magic in the world of The Sims 4, you'll need to transform yourself into what's now called a Spellcaster: a catch-all term covering aspects of several magical creature types from previous Sims games.

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Looking for more The Sims 4 help? Read how to become a Werewolf in The Sims 4 as well as our The Sims 4 cheats page to help fast track you to various aspects of the game.

What are Spellcasters in The Sims 4 and how do they work?

Technically, Spellcasters are a completely separate life state from vanilla 'human' Sims, although the degree of humanity (or inhumanity) in your magical Sim's appearance is up to you.

The downside to this is that it means your Vampires, Mermaids, Aliens, Werewolves, and Ghosts will need to renounce their existing supernatural affiliation in order to become spellcasters, since The Sims 4 doesn't allow for hybrid creature types.

Spellcasters primarily look and behave like witches and wizards from older games; there's also some overlap with the fairy life state introduced in The Sims 3: Supernatural.

Unlike most other creature types in The Sims 4, Spellcasters have no alternative form with which to conceal or reveal their supernatural nature.

However - like the titular characters from the Vampires game pack - Spellcasters have a huge branching skill tree, featuring a satisfyingly wide range of abilities to learn and powers to gain.

Most importantly, though, Spellcasters can cook a twelve-person serving of macaroni and cheese in a giant bubbling cauldron, a talent well worth surrendering your humanity for even on its own.

There are four schools of magic available to your Sims - not to be confused with the four famous houses at a certain magical school, mind you.

The kind of Spellcaster your Sim will become is determined by what they choose to study:

• Practical magic (which helps ease the burden of everyday tasks)
• Mischief magic (which aims to cause discomfort and embarrassment to others)
• Untamed magic (concerned with the acquisition of the most powerful spells)
• And alchemy (a potions-based discipline more grounded in the physical world than the other schools)

Meanwhile, Realm of Magic introduces two new aspirations for your Sims: 'Spellcraft & Sorcery', which is a Knowledge aspiration; and 'Purveyor of Potions', which is a Nature aspiration.

You don't need to have one of these aspirations to become a Spellcaster, but if you really want to dive into everything the new pack has to offer they're a good focal point, and there are helpful pointers contained in the goal text.

Like all aspirations in The Sims 4, they can either be selected during character creation or swapped out on an existing Sim at any time using the Simology panel.

Unlike with many other creature types in The Sims games, becoming a Spellcaster in Realm of Magic is just the very beginning of your magical journey, not an end goal.

As such, the steps you need to take to get started are pretty simple, requiring only a little exploration. However, if you're keen to get right into the action - or if you're not playing with one of the new magic aspirations and so aren't receiving any in-game guidance - read on to learn where to go to become a Spellcaster and what to do once you get there.

Where to find Glimmerbrook in The Sims 4 Realm of Magic

Your journey into mystery begins with a trip to the new world of Glimmerbrook, the gateway to the titular Realm of Magic. Like most of the worlds added with previous game packs, Glimmerbrook is on the smaller side, and is made up of a single neighbourhood.

Glimmerbrook is an attractive place in its own right, but the key feature of the town is the Mystical Portal: the one place in all the Sims' homelands where anyone can travel freely between the mundane and magical worlds.

Since you need to travel to the Realm of Magic in order to become a Spellcaster, you need to find the portal.

The Mystical Portal isn't a selectable location on the world map, although the map illustration features a pretty strong clue as to where you want to head. (Hint: it's just about the only detail on one-third of the map screen; look to the left-hand side.)

The Mystical Portal can be found by the waterfall on the western edge of town. Since there's no lot nearby to fast travel to, the only way to reach it is on foot: fortunately, The Sims 4 allows you to explore its neighbourhood environs freely.

Head either to Glimmerbrook Watch (the empty lot) or Rock Ridge Canyon (home to the EA-created Charm family); the path to the waterfall and the Mystical Portal runs roughly between them. There's even a faint dirt track heading from the border of Glimmerbrook Watch directly towards the portal in case you get turned around.

Once you find it, simply click on the portal and select 'Travel to The Magic Realm'. Your Sim will be given a pop-up prompt to either 'Enter the Portal' or 'Turn Back' - and since you've made it this far, I'm going to assume you want to choose the first one.

Brave the swirling vortex and you'll emerge on the other side in a secret area not shown on the map. This is the Realm of Magic and, as a twenty-year veteran of the franchise, I can confirm it to be the coolest location I think I've ever seen in a Sims game - aesthetically it's a cross between the Void from Dishonored and a copyright-friendly Harry Potter homage. (Anyone up for a shopping trip to the legally distinct 'Casters Alley'?)

Where to find the Sages and become a Spellcaster in The Sims 4 Realm of Magic

The Realm of Magic is made up of a series of four islands seemingly free-floating in the void of extra-dimensional space. You can travel between them using portals like the one that brought you here from Glimmerbrook.

Luckily, though, if it's your first trip here and you just want to get on with becoming a Spellcaster, you're already on the right island: the portal from Glimmerbrook deposits you in the courtyard outside of the imposing mansion known as Magic HQ.

Head inside and you'll find the three Sages: L. Faba, the Sage of Mischief Magic; Simeon Silversweater, the Sage of Practical Magic; and Morgyn Ember, the Sage of Untamed Magic.

Sages are the only ones who can bestow magical powers onto other Sims in a ritual known as the Rite of Ascension. To make these Sages easier to spot, they each have a brightly coloured rune floating above their heads, corresponding to the school of magic they represent.

Introduce yourself to any of the three Sages. Once you're acquaintances, you can click on them and select the Friendly social interaction 'Ask How to Use Magic'. Another pop-up prompt will let you choose between starting the quest immediately or leaving it for later.

Accepting the quest starts a (very forgiving) timer, so it might be worth making sure that your Sim's needs - especially Energy - are high before you begin.

Your mission, once you choose to accept it, is to collect seven Magical Motes and deliver them back to the Sages. In order to do this, you'll be granted a Focused moodlet called 'Mote Sight' that allows you to see and retrieve motes.

Mote Sight is only active for eight in-game hours before it wears off. Fortunately, Magical Motes are abundant throughout the Realm of Magic, especially in the area around Magic HQ.

Appearing as purple-blue orbs with a swirling pink core, they can be found on almost every path on the main island, and are pretty hard to miss.

Clicking on one will give you the option to collect it. Collected orbs will be stacked in your Sim's inventory, and once you have all seven you won't be able to pick up any more, so it's time to check back in with the Sages.

Select the 'Turn In Motes' Friendly social interaction on any Sage to complete the quest and automatically trigger the Rite of Ascension.

NOTE: You don't need to hand your Magical Motes to the Sage who started the quest for you; any Sage will accept them, provided you've introduced yourself. It's also worth knowing that your magical school isn't determined by the alignment of the Sage(s) you interact with as part of the quest; instead, you get to choose your specialisation for yourself later on.

One simple magical transformation later and your Sim is now a fully-fledged Apprentice Spellcaster, with a Spellbook and skill tree of their very own that can be accessed via the Needs tab on the Simology panel.

Your Spellcaster's needs panel looks quite different from a regular Sim's, and includes new features unique to spellcasters: the Charge metre, Rank metre, Talent Points tracker, and Perks Panel (which grants access to the Spellbook).

You'll also receive a Glimmerstone in your inventory, which allows you to fast travel to the Realm of Magic from anywhere in the game.

Now you have everything you need to begin the real business of being a Spellcaster.

You can start learning spells and potions by asking the Sages for advice, or by reading the books generously provided around Magic HQ; or visit Casters Alley to buy yourself ingredients and a magic wand, a broomstick for easier travel, or even an adorable magical familiar!

How to turn a Spellcaster back into a human in The Sims 4

Of course, your Sim may not want to stay a Spellcaster forever. (Admittedly we can't conceive of why you wouldn't want that: being a Spellcaster is super cool and has basically no downsides... but I'm not here to judge!)

Here's how to undo the effects of your magical initiation. Travel to the Realm of Magic and find any Sage. Introduce yourself to them if you haven't already, then click on them and choose "Ask for Rite of Dissolution" from the Magic social category.

The Sage will perform a slightly grim (but still pretty cool looking) spell that extracts your magical powers from you, and you'll get a pop-up informing you that your Sim is no longer a Spellcaster.

You can still use the portals to travel to and from Glimmerbrook and around the Realm of Magic, and participate in any non-magical activities on offer there (including cooking at the mac and cheese cauldron, so don't worry!).

And of course you can always start the whole process again if you change your mind.

Our The Sims 4 cheats can help you fast travel your way to all sorts of bonuses in the game. Meanwhile, if you have expansions, we can help with becoming a werewolf, Fabrication in Eco Living, Tiny Living, how to become a Mermaid, how to become a Spellcaster, High School and attending prom and University Degrees and Distinguished Degrees. In June 2020, we also saw the free addition of ladders in The Sims 4.

Other ways to get Spellcasters in The Sims 4

If you're looking to quick-start a game with a Spellcaster character, there are two methods of skipping the Rite of Ascension and getting your Sim their magical powers without needing to wait.

Create a Spellcaster using Create-A-Sim

Like most creature types in The Sims 4, Spellcasters can be made in Create-A-Sim when you start a new game or create a new household within an existing save.

Unless you take the Story Mode character creation quiz and get lucky with its randomly generated questions, your starting CAS Sim will be a regular human.

To start building your Spellcaster, click 'Add Character' in the lower left hand corner of the screen, and choose 'Add Occult Sim' from the pop-up menu. A second pop-up menu sprouts from the first one showing you the full range of occult life states your installed add-ons have to offer; click on 'Add Spellcaster'. A new character will be added to your family, complete with magical powers.

(If you don't want a muggle in your household, you can mouse over the original randomised character's icon and click on the cross to delete them.)

Unlike most other creatures in The Sims 4, Spellcasters don't have a 'dark form' to hide their true nature from unenlightened human eyes; meaning that there's only one appearance you need to customise.

A Spellcaster can look just like a regular human Sim if you want them to, but you can add a hint of eeriness with an extensive range of new supernatural eye colours, or give full reign to your Spellcaster's eccentricity with some witchy/wizardly new cosmetic and clothing options. Good news if you've always known you were a Goth Hufflepuff on the inside.

Sadly, there's nothing you can do to convert your existing favourite Sims into Spellcasters while in Create-A-Sim - short of painstakingly recreating them from scratch.

So if you want to import a character from your library or the Gallery and make them a Spellcaster, you have two options: making it happen in-game, using the Sages' quest method detailed above; or using cheats for instant gratification.

Using Spellcaster cheats in The Sims 4

Cheat codes: a kind of magic all on their own. If you're really keen to get right to the good part, you can use a cheat code to instantly turn your Sim into a Spellcaster.

NOTE: You might notice a slight change in terminology between regular gameplay and the cheats console in Realm of Magic. While magical Sims are officially referred to as 'Spellcasters', the cheats console only recognises the term 'Witch'.

Don't worry, though: using this cheat will get you the hidden 'Spellcaster' trait, and everything in-game will work the same.

To become a Spellcaster using cheats, follow the steps below:

1. Open the cheats console. (See our The Sims 4 cheats page for details on how to do this.) The console appears on the upper left hand of the screen
2. Type and enter testingcheats on or testingcheats true (either will work) to enable debugging cheat.
3. With your would-be-Spellcaster as your active character, enter the following cheat: Traits.Equip_Trait Trait_Occult_WitchOccult

If you enter the cheat correctly, you'll notice that a silver bar (indicating that the active Sim is a supernatural creature) will instantly pop into existence, encircling their plumbob.

You're now every bit as much a Spellcaster as those who undertook the Sages' quest, and can commence your magical career as normal.

You can also de-witchify (or should that be un-Spellcaster-ate..?) yourself using cheats, by following the instructions above and substituting 'Remove' for 'Equip' in the cheat code.

As ever, beware that debug cheats don't always play nicely with all aspects of your game, and there is a risk that using them will cause glitches or corruption - so always be sure to save your game first.

Now that you have a full toolkit of Spellcaster creation methods at your fingertips, the real magic is just beginning. So go forth, explore the new worlds, and cast spells to your heart's content!